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Friday, December 30, 2011

Some Hovels and a look back on 2011 plus Project list for 2012

There is something about Hovel terrain I really like that makes them one of my favourites. When one thinks several companies make better sculpts and the clean up needed on Hovels is often quite bit to get them up to snuff one must ask why do I like them so much then? I suppose you could say they are very cost friendly, however that's not it, but rather I'd sum them up as certain quaintness about them that I find extremely charming that gives a feeling of I just got to have that.
The buildings I did here are from their 15mm battlefield series which are a Ruined Church, Factory Chimney, Coal Shed and Industrial Building. After the clean up they were fun to paint up and really take weathering very nicely. I plan on getting more from the series and already own some others from other sets in both 15mm and 28mm. I also plan on picking up their awesome 28mm Hougoumont and La Haye Saint Nap sets one day!
Miniature Company- Hovels

Well the year has gone by so lets take a look at my 2011 project list and see how I did. As always I never complete nearly as much as I like, but with that in mind I think I did ok or even passably good.

The review of 2011:

-Paint a new Brigade of 28mm American AWI towards my BG Guilford Courthouse project-30% completed- At 30% I'd have say I missed the mark by a good measure, but still managed something which is good. So a generous incomplete for this.

-Paint a Brigade of 28mm Union ACW for GaG- 90% completed- At 90% that is a success! I only need to paint the commander then the brigade is finished. Of course I can increase it's size at later date if I wish.

-Paint a Brigade of 28mm Confederate ACW for GaG- Nothing is nothing so zero here.

-Paint 550pts. of US Airborne for Disposable Heroes- 100% completed- Total success!! Actually I even did more points then that and plan on adding more at some point!

-Complete my 15mm FOW Fallschirmschirmjäger army-70% completed- Pretty darn good and so a minor success here. A couple units more and then should be where I want to be.

-Paint up a 2000pts WAB 28mm Mercenary Spanish Christian army for El Cid- 100% completed- A smashing Success even if it was arduous at times! I plan on adding some infantry to this at some point, but for now it's finished.

-Paint a Basic Impetus Arab Ayyubid army for Impetus(evt. 300pts or more)-10% completed- Oh dear, way under par on this! I do really need to pick up the tempo!

- Build, buy and paint terrain for 15mm.- 40% completed - Well... I did some so a minor success here, but again really need to do more.

-Complete a small warband for Chaos in Cairo- 40% completed- For such a small amount of figures to do 40% is a pretty darn low and so incomplete on this.

-Paint a few Zombie survivors and zombies for DWA- 70% completed- I would call this a success as I painted enough to game with, but still room for more of course.

-Renovate and remodel Hobby Room- 75% completed- Even at 75% this is a huge success as I really just need to do a few more things and it will hit the target completely!

- Construct movement bases for Impetus for armies already based for WAB-I knew there was something I was supposed to do........zero.

Another thing about 2011 is the sheer amount of rules and supplements that I purchased. I have never bought so many in one year before resulting in I haven't fully read half of them!

Providing the Aztec's get it wrong and we are still here in 2012 I have quite a few projects planned which is not surprising from me!

Planned Projects:

- BG AWI(28mm)- Last year I only managed a regiment on my 2nd American Brigade and so I need to add a couple more to finish off the brigade.

-GAG Union ACW(28mm)- Virtually finished my first brigade with only really needing to do a commander to be done, However I might add a cannon and another infantry regiment to it if the mood takes me.

-GAG Confederate ACW(28mm)- Really need to get a brigade of this done. I'm looking forward to painting these guys as earth tones are in my comfort zone of painting which usually means a relaxing stress free painting session. I tend to favour the brown tones(butternut in particular) and so expect my confederates to have slightly less grey then many others do. Hopefully with the completion of this brigade my friends and I can pool our troops together for some Guns at Gettysburg gaming!

- Read all the rules and supplements I bought in 2011!- With the explosion of wargames hitting the market coupled with others I've wanted to try plus all the deals has quite literally buried me in rules thus I haven't had a chance to read all that I purchased in 2011. So many games to look forward to!

- Fallschirmjager Operation Squad(28mm)- FJ's are very hard to paint and so my outlook of attaining a force needed to play DH looked pretty darn grim to do in any reasonable time.......until I discovered Operation Squad which uses far less miniatures! Where I before needed about 40 miniatures I now only need about 11 or so leaving me only a few to paint. So I'll be able to actually play them while I build up for larger skirmish games.

- Build, buy and paint terrain(15/28mm)- Painting up terrain is just as important as painting your miniatures I think. You can have very nicely painted miniatures, but if your terrain isn't equally as nice it can spoil the whole effect. I've already purchased quite a bit and already have a good start on the painting, but much more still needs to be done.

-Fallschirmschirmjäger(15mm)- Already have large chunk of this finished for FOW and just need to do a couple more units and I'll reach my target of around 1750pts or so not including tank support. I also plan on using my 15mm stuff to try out TFL "I ain't been shot Mum" rule set.

-Shimazu Samurai for Impetus(28mm)- After years of procrastination I've finally decided on the rule set, clan and approach to painting them. I can really see this really jumping into it's own as I'm not only just interested in the Samurai, but their enemies as well to include Warrior Monks, Koreans and of course other Samurai. As matter of fact the Japanese interest me in several periods to include the entire Medieval period, Japanese/Russian conflict, Boxer Rebellion and WWII.

-Arab Ayyubid army for Impetus(15mm)- I got a weak start on them in 2011, but I plan on picking up the pace in 2012 and at least paint up a basic army and with some luck actually completing 300pts. worth. So far they have been interesting and fun working with so much color!

-Chaos in Cairo(28mm)-One would have thought with just a few miniatures I would have finished it, but as always something came up. With just a little luck I should be able to do this.

-US Tank Company(15mm)- With my hobby room I've become much more focused on collecting armies for both sides of a given period so as to insure I have an army available for guests to either use or to subsidise their armies with. With the miniature count low and painting complexity not too difficult I see this project standing a very good chance of seeing completion.

-Late War British WWI(28mm)- Thanks to Sindney over at Roundwoods world I started to seriously look at WWI and so picked up the Great War series of books at WH. The combination was just too much for my weak mind to resist and so I decided to jump in! My plan of approach is to start at squad level collecting and playing until I have sufficient miniatures for larger skirmishes. Looking forward to painting a few and with the earth tones of the British it should be a comfortable start.

- Put in a new wargames table and buy some wall hangings- It would be nice to get a permanent table into my room next year instead of the folding tables I'm using now. I also need to pick up some historical weapons to hang up on my walls to compliment my pictures and complete the look I#m going for.

-Paint up squad or so of Natal Carbineers(28mm)- The Zulu War does interest me, but isn't a huge one of mine, however it is a favourite period of a friend and so I'm supporting his interest by collecting some Natal Carbineers and some Boars that I happen to like and will use in his campaigns.

Other Projects that may get started :

-French and IndianWar(28mm)- I've been wanting to do some French Marines and Indians for quite some time and they could easily end up going into the planned projects, but for now they will remain on the maybe projects pile.

-French Naps(28mm)- Well I've decided how I want them to look and how I'll paint them, but this would be a major commitment and so not sure yet if 2012 is the year for them. As always I'll let the winds of mood and time decide.

-Aztecs and Spanish for Impetus (28mm)- If I start them it would be slowly with only a base or two. This would be more of a painting project then a gaming one. I really would like to paint this as the mini's for this period are some of the best Foundry ever did which will be the only ones I use for this project.

-Italian Wars for Impetus(28mm)- Like the Aztecs and Arabs it gives me a chance to step out of my comfort zone and paint lots of color for something different and one just has to like the looks of huge pike blocks!

-SCW(28mm)- Again something I'd like to do and with all the squad level games out it might not be to difficult to start and so this could get moved to the planed projects.

-Romano British(28mm)- Another army I've been meaning to do, but I just can't seem to fit them in. I really want to as Bill has done superb work on them, but just don't see the time yet.
- Praetorian Romans(28mm)- Need to be re-painted and possibly re-based as well and as of now I just not in the mood to do so.

- Assyrian's(28mm)- No longer sure which rules I want them for or if I want to do any more biblical armies at all. For now this stays on the back burner.

-Ancient Germans(28mm)- Pretty much tied in with the Praetorian Romans and so if I do one then I'll do the other. So far, they will remain on the maybe list.
-ECW(28mm)- Just can't seem to decide if I want to sell them or paint them. For now they will sit on the lead pile.

-El Cid(28mm)- Since I only have mounted figures completed I really need to add some infantry to the force, but other projects take precedence.

-Moors(28mm)- Another army that's been on my to do list for a number of years. Maybe this year I'll actually do it. Time will tell, but for now didn't make the planned projects.

-Ironclads(28mm)- Still thinking of doing this someday, but haven't quite worked out how.

Thank you for following my blog and for reading this long winded post! Happy New Year!!